Aid agencies seek 550 million dollars to help migrants in Europe

Aid agencies will need 550 million dollars to help migrants and refugees in southern Europe this year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and more than 60 other aid organizations say in an appeal to donor countries.

Half of the funds will go to Greece, the entry point for 850,000 of the more than 1 million migrants who arrived in Europe last year, UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards says.

The response plan developed by the aid organization also focuses on Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia, and its main aim is to provide shelter, water, sanitation and protection at arrival points.

“Europe is at a critical point, with several of the main countries of arrival showing strain but still no common, shared, sustainable solution to the situation,“ UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said, explaining the need for support by aid organizations.

Beirut (dpa) - Syrian government forces and their allies advanced deeper into the shrinking rebel-held enclave in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday, seizing the Old City, while demanding the armed opposition groups leave the area.